Pneumatic bulky material collector system

ABSTRACT

Unique laundry and bulky material, collector assembly and method in which the bulky material being air conveyed, is removed from the system utilizing in combination a plurality of inner arrangement of doors, intraactuated, so as to secure full closure of the sealing doors on every cycle and thus secure a constant vacuum or pressure in the pneumatic conveying system.

United States Patent 1191 Boon July 24, 1973 i 1 PNEUMATlC BULKYMATERIAL 2,193,738 3 1940 Perrin 302/62 COLLECTOR SYSTEM FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS lnvemorl Bruce B00, Wayne, 280,005 11/1927 Great Britain302/62 [73] Assignee: Eastern Cyclone Industries, Inc'., 206649 GreatFairfield, NJ. Primary ExaminerR1chard E. Aegerter [22] Flled: 1 1971Assistant Examiner-41. S. Lane [2 App]. No 1 93 Attorney.lames M.Heilman [52] [1.8. CL... 302/62, 222/442, 222/450 [57] ABSTRACT 51 im.(:1. B65g 53/40 Uniqwa laundry and bulky material, collector assembly 58Field of Search 302/52, 53, 62; and method in which the bulky materialbeing air 222/425, 450, 442 veyed, is removed from the system utilizingin combination a plurality of inner arrangement of doors, intraac- [56]R f renc Ci tuated, so as to secure full closure of the sealing doorsUNITED STATES PATENTS on every cycle and thussecure a constant vacuum or3 667 814 6/1972 Krivda pressure in the pneumatic conveying system.2,708,040 5/1955 7 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure Somogyi 302/62 ux PatentedJuly 24, 1973 INVENTOR BRUCE T.E. BOON ATTORNEY.

PNEUMATIC BULKY MATERIAL COLLECTOR SYSTEM The present invention isconcerned with a unique bulky material collector system, and method inwhich the bulky material being conveyed by a pneumatic system, isremoved from the system through a plurality of doors which are sointer-related in action that jamming ofthe sealing doors is prevented,and thus the vacuum or pressure in the system is maintained. The presentinvention is concerned generally with a bulky material conveying systemin which the conveying medium comprises a vacuum (negative pressure) ora positive pressure air system.

The present invention is an improvement on the invention described inBoon U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,681, issued Aug. 18, 1970, entitled Laundry andFabric Collector and Method Having a Constant Vacuum, and related andsimilar systems. The overall collector may be somewhat similar to thatdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,681, except that a third set of doorsis utilized, and the doors are positively actuated by timing means aswill be hereinafter described.

It is known in the art to use two sets of sealing doors to prevent lossof vacuum, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,681. However, whenremoving materials, such as bulky trash, linens and the like, or othersimilar bulky materials of varying densities and volumes, thesematerials at times tend to position themselves between the closingsealing doors, jamming the sealing doors and thus preventing their fullclosing. Under these conditions, air pressure or vacuum pressure is lostwithin the system, thus greatly decreasing the efficiency of the overallsystem. The present invention prevents this and may be used with anytype of air conveying system such as described in assignees patents U.S.Pat. No. 2,556,058, issued June 5, 1951; U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,800, issuedSept. 28, 1965, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,603, issued Jan. 31, 1967.

The material may be any bulky material; such as laundry, fabrics, alltypes of textile as well as bulky trash, i.e., paper, garbage, solidindustrial waste and the like. The invention is more specificallyconcerned with a novel collector system or collection system for theremoval of bulky material conveyed by the pneumatic conveying systemwithout losing pressure within the system. In accordance with a specificadaptation of the present invention, a second or inner set of releasesealing doors is utilized in conjunction with a first or outer set ofrelease sealing doors operated under conditions so that one set of thesealing doors is always closed which thereby prevents open communicationfrom without or outside the system to within or inside the system thuspreventing loss of vacuum or air pressure from within the'system.Positive closing of the second or inner set of sealing doors is assuredon each cycle by the utilization of a unique third set of guard doorsupstream of or above the second set of doors.

It is known in the art to use two sets of closures to prevent loss ofvacuum. However, when removing materials, such as bulky trash, linensand the like, or other similar bulky materials of varying densities andvolumes, these materials at times tend to position themselves betweenthe sealing doors as they are closing, jamming the sealing doors, andthus preventing their full closing and sealing. Under these conditions,air pressure or vacuum pressure is lost within the system,

thus greatly decreasing the'efficiency of the overall system andpossibly making it inoperative. The present invention prevents this andmay be used with any type of air conveying system.

The apparatus and technique of the present invention may be fullyunderstood by reference to the drawing illustrating one embodiment ofthe same. The overall collector utilizes three sets of doors, whichdoors are' positively actuated by timing means as will be hereinafterdescribed. w a

Referring specifically to the FIGUREFthe collector assembly comprises anouter housing 10 having an inlet conduit 1 through which the bulkymaterial and'the conveying air is introduced into the collectorassembly. The pneumatic system is of the conventional closed type whichmay have a plurality of bulky material pick-" up stations and aplurality of collector assembly stations for the removal of the bulkymaterials from the pneumatic conveying stream. The housing may be of anygeometric configuration but preferably is of a square or rectangularconfiguration. An exhaust conduit 2 is positioned at any suitable areain the housing for the removal of the conveying air from thecollectorassembly. The housing 10 has a lower open end which 1 may be sealed offfrom theatmosphere by means of solid lower sealing doors 3 and 4 whichopen and close as they oscillate on axes 5 and 6.

An inner perforated housing 20, having number A of perforations, ispreferably concentrically or centrally disposed within the outerhousing10, providing air passageways ll and 12 between the respective housings.It is obvious that the nuirnber and sizeof the perforations should besuchas to permit the ready flow of air therethrough and to retain thebulky materials within housing 20. Thus, the material being conveyed andthe air will enter inner housing 20; the air will separate from thematerial and flow through the perforations in housing 20 intopassageways 11 and 12, and will be removed through conduit 2.

A set of solid intermediate sealing doors 7 and 8 are positioned belowinner housing 20 and when closed prevent any communication from a lowerarea 16 below these doors to an upper area 17 above these doors. Thesedoors 7'and 8 open and close by oscillating about axes 14 and '15. Doors7 and 8 are preferably mounted on the inner wall of outer housing 10.

In accordance with a specific adaptation of the invention a pair ofupper doors l8 and 19'are positioned within perforated inner housing 20.These doors define an area 17A above area 17 and are designed to openand close by oscillating about axes 21 and 22. These doors preferablycontain perforations 9.

A further preferred adaptation of the present invention is theutilization of a conduit-valve assembly by which communication betweenareas 16 and 17 can be established, or cut off, so that communicationbetween area 16 and the atmosphere may be established while maintainingareas 17 and 17A at the system pressure. This conduit-valve assemblycomprises a conduit or valve housing 30 connecting area 17 with area 16.Port 31 from housing 30 leads into area 17 while port 32 leads into area16.

Housing 30 has a lower port 33 communicating with the atmosphere. Avalve 35 actuated by air cylinder 36 or equivalent means isdesigned toopen and close port 33, and designed to seat on seat 37 closing port 38preventing communication between areas 17 and 16, and

between area 17 and the atmosphere. Thus when areas 16 and 17 are inopen communication by means of housing 30 and ports 31 and 32, nocommunication exists to the atmosphere since valve 35 closes port 33.When area 16 is in communication with the atrnosphere by means of ports32 and 33, no communication exists between area 17 and either area 16 orthe atmosphere since valve 35 seats on seat 37 closing off port 38.

Thus, a cycle of the operation is as follows: starting at a zero pointwhere doors 3 and 4 are closed, doors 7 and 8 are closed, and doors 18and 19 are open, areas 16 and 17 are in open communication and at systempressure since valve 35 closes port 33 leaving port 38 open. Bulkymaterial has accumulated in area 16 and is about to be removed from thesystem while bulky material is accumulating in area 17. At point zero +avalve 35 opens port 33 and closes port 38 placing area 16 at atmosphericpressure. At zero +b doors 3-4 open, discharging the bulky material fromthe system, with material still accumulating in area 17.

At zero +c doors 3-4 close and at zero +d valve 35 closes port 33 andopens port 38 closing off the atmosphere and placing area 16incommunication with area 17 and thus placing area 16 at the systempressure.

At zero +e doors 7-8 open permitting the accumulated bulky material todrop from area 17 into area 16. Then at zero +f doors 18-19 closepreventing material from passing thereby. Even if these doors areprevented from closing fully by material jamming them, the efficiency ofthe system will not be impaired since these doors are not sealing doors.At zero +g doors 7-8 close and at zero +h doors 18-19 open, thuscompleting the may be a single door an plurality of door segments so asto comprise a single door.

The interaction of closing and opening of the doors and of the valvesmay be secured by any type of conventional time relay controlmechanisms. Air cylinders suitably timed may be used to actuate thedoors, as well as the valves. The use of a single valve as described ispreferred to pressure balance the systern during the cycle. V Thepresent apparatus and technique separates mixed bulky material from anegative air stream without interrupting the negative pressure intheconveying system. Thus it allows continuous feeding of material at aninlet point, and secures separation of the mixed.

bulky material on a continuing basis. Negative pressure is maintained atall times by the unique use of separating doors and the pressure reliefvalve assembly.

The continuous discharge collector is made up oftwo basic compartments,shown as compartment or area 17 and compartment or area 16 on thedrawing. Material enters the collector through the air and materialinlet which is attached to an air-material line. This line comes fromone or more inlet points in the pneumatic system. As the air andmaterial mixture enters the collector, a perforated screen 39 deflectsmaterial downard into the upper area 17A of compartment 17 and allowsthe air to pass through and continue out through the air outlet 2.Basically the collector assembly comprises an outer housing of airtightmaterial, an inner baffle screen of perforated material, three sets ofdoors separating the inside of the collector into two separatecompartments and one temporary holding area, and a cycle which istabulated in the following table.

pressure relief valve or pressure neutralizing valve; 7

Communication Doors Ports between areas Time 8-4 7-8 18-19 88 33 16-17lb-Atm 17-Atm C osed.. Opens... No.... Closed" 0pm.... N...do........do..... No.... Opens... Closes... Yes...

Thus it is essentialthat doors 18 1 9525 araaasnasa during the closingcycle of doors 7-8 in order to prevent jamming and incomplete closing ofthese doors by down falling bulky material. It is very desirable thatthese guard doors 18-19 contain perforations so as to permit the passageof air therethrough which will secure smoother air separation from thebulky material, and will secure more uniform air flow which willminimize the blockage of the air ports by the bulky material.

The time of the respective steps in the cycle may be varied dependingupon operating conditions, such as size of equipment, rate of flow ofbulky material, type of bulky material and other operating functions.For instance, satisfactory times for the respective steps of the cyclemay be as follows:

b 2-6 see. c l -2 sec. d I see.

e 2-6 see. a f

" g l-2 sec. h 1-2 see.

The doors, while shown as a abu's'le'aso'r; may be of any number, designor configuration. Thus the doors Departing on the quantity of'mate rialbeing fed in terms of weight and/or volume, a timing cycle isincorporated to activate doors 3-4, 7-8, 18-19 at a predetermined time.A point in time is thereby picked so that before compartment 17 becomesfilled and shuts off the air flow, the material is discharged fromcompartment 17 and deposited in compartment 16. At that moment, doors7-8 are opened thereby discharging the material from compartment 17 intocompartment 16. The time cycle for this is approximately 3-6 seconds.

Upon the the discharging of the material from compartment 17 tocompartment 16, doors 7-8 should then be reclosed but at this point, ifdoors 7-8 were closed and material was continually being fed intocompartment 17 they would squeeze against some large bulky material andnot seal. Therefore, just before doors 7-8 close, doors 18-19 areenergized and closed thereby restricting the flow of material beyondthat point. After 1 to 2 seconds of energizing doors 18-19, doors 7-8are then energized for closing. Once doors 7-8 are closed, doors 18-19are reopened allowing compartment 17 to be maintained at its fullcapacity for further feeding.

Compartment 16, at this point, now has a charge within it and must bedischarged. Therefore, as soon as doors 7-8 are closed, which is amatter of about 3-6 seconds after its initial opening, doors 3-4 areopened to discharge the load in compartment 16 into some type ofreceiving hopper, receptacles, etc.

The opening and closing of doors 3-4 and 7-8 would require much greaterforce than could be supplied by air cylinders if it were not for theaddition of the action of the pressure relief or pressure neutralizingvalve. When doors 7-8 are activated to be opened, compartment 17 at thattime is under negative pressure and compartment 16 is under atmosphericpressure. Therefore, in order to balance the pressure on both sides ofthe door, the pressure neutralizing valve is activated to put bothcompartment 17 and compartment 16 at equal negative pressure allowingthe doors to havea neutral reactive force upon them thereby eliminatingany restraining forces on the doors. The same follows for the opening ofcompartment doors 3-4 for compartment 16. The doors 7-8 of compartment17 have closed, the chamber of compartment 16 had been under negativepressure, therefore unless this pressure is relieved,-the negativepressure in compartment 16 is opposed by the atmospheric pressure on theoutside of compartment 16 on doors 34.

The pressure neutralizing valve returns to a position so thatcompartment 16 is open to the atmosphere. At that point, the aircylinders for doors 3-4 are energized and deposit their load. The unitis now completely cycled and is at its starting point and will recycleagain.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A material collector system adapted for the efficient removal ofmaterial from a material air conveying system which comprises incombination: (1) an outer housing having (2) an inlet conduit near thetop thereof for the admittance of said material and air, (3) an outletconduit in said outer housing for the removal of air therefrom, (4) aninner perforated housing positioned within and near the top of saidouter housing and in communication with said inlet conduit, wherebyconveying air will separate from said material and will flow throughsaid perforations into passageways between the respective housings andbe removed through said outlet conduit, (5) an upper set of non-sealingdoors positioned within said inner housing designed to prevent thepassage of material thereby, when closed, (6) an intermediate set ofdoors positioned below said inner housing and designed to prevent anycommunication thereby, when closed, from a first area above saidintermediate doors to a second area below said intermediate doors, (7) alower set of doors positioned at the lower end of said outer housing anddesigned to prevent any communication thereby, when closed,

vfrom without said outer housing to within said outer housing, and (8)conventional door control means for actuating said doors in aninterrelated cyclic manner, so that said intermediate set of doors andsaid lower set of doors are never open simultaneously, and said upperset of doors are closed at least during the closing cycle of saidintermediate set of doors.

2. System as defined by claim 1 wherein said inner housing is of suchconstruction to change the direction of flow of said material and saidair from the direction of flow in said inlet conduit.

.3. System as defined by claim 1 wherein said first area and said secondarea are interconnected by (9) external conduit means and (10) externalvalve means without said outer housing.

4. System as defined by claim 3 wherein (11) valve control means securescommunication through said external conduit means between said firstarea and said second area upon the closing of said lower set of doorsand prior to the opening of said intermediate set of doors and nocommunication exists to the atmosphere through said external conduits. I

5. System as defined by claim 3 wherein (12) valve control means securescommunication through said external conduit means between said secondarea and the atmosphere upon the closing of said intermediate set ofdoors and prior to the opening of said lower setof doors and nocommunication exists to said first area through said external conduitmeans.

6. A material collector system adapted for the efficient removal ofmaterial from a material-air conveying system which comprises incombination: (1) an outer housing having (2) an inlet conduit near thetop thereof for the admittance of said material and air, (3) an outletconduit in said outer housing for the removal of air therefrom, (4) aninner perforated housing positioned within and near the top of saidouter housing and in communication with said inlet conduit wherebyconveying air will separate from said material and will flow throughsaid perforations into passageways between the respective housings'andbe removed through said outlet conduit, (5) an upper set of doorspositioned within said innerperforated housing designed to pre- .ventthe passage of material thereby,when closed, said upper set of doorscharacterized by having perforations therethrough, (6) an intermediateset of doors positioned below said inner perforated housing and designedto prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from a first areaabove said intermediate doors to a second area below said intermediatedoors, (7) a lower set of doors positioned at the lower end of saidouter housing and designed to prevent any'communication thereby, whenclosed, from without said outer housing to within said outer housing,and (8) conventional door control means for actuating said doors in aninterrelated cyclic manner, so that said intermediate set of doors andsaid lower set of doors are never open simultaneously, and said upperset of doors are closed at least during the closing cycle of saidintermediate set of doors.

7. System as defined by claim 3 wherein said external conduit means andsaid external value means consists essentially of an external housingassembly having an upper area and a lower area, a first port in saidupper area communicating with said first area, a second port in saidlower area communicating with said second area, a third port providingcommunication between said upper area and said lower area, a fourth portproviding communication between said lower area and the atmosphere, amovable valve adapted to close said third port or said fourth port,whereby when said third port is closed no communication exists betweensaid first area and said second area but communication exists betweensaid second area and the atmosphere, and whereby when said fourth portis closed communication exists between said first area and said secondarea but no communication exists to the atmosphere.

1. A material collector system adapted for the efficient removal ofmaterial from a material - air conveying system which comprises incombination: (1) an outer housing having (2) an inlet conduit near thetop thereof for the admittance of said material and air, (3) an outletconduit in said outer housing for the removal of air therefrom, (4) aninner Perforated housing positioned within and near the top of saidouter housing and in communication with said inlet conduit, wherebyconveying air will separate from said material and will flow throughsaid perforations into passageways between the respective housings andbe removed through said outlet conduit, (5) an upper set of nonsealingdoors positioned within said inner housing designed to prevent thepassage of material thereby, when closed, (6) an intermediate set ofdoors positioned below said inner housing and designed to prevent anycommunication thereby, when closed, from a first area above saidintermediate doors to a second area below said intermediate doors, (7) alower set of doors positioned at the lower end of said outer housing anddesigned to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from withoutsaid outer housing to within said outer housing, and (8) conventionaldoor control means for actuating said doors in an interrelated cyclicmanner, so that said intermediate set of doors and said lower set ofdoors are never open simultaneously, and said upper set of doors areclosed at least during the closing cycle of said intermediate set ofdoors.
 2. System as defined by claim 1 wherein said inner housing is ofsuch construction to change the direction of flow of said material andsaid air from the direction of flow in said inlet conduit.
 3. System asdefined by claim 1 wherein said first area and said second area areinterconnected by (9) external conduit means and (10) external valvemeans without said outer housing.
 4. System as defined by claim 3wherein (11) valve control means secures communication through saidexternal conduit means between said first area and said second area uponthe closing of said lower set of doors and prior to the opening of saidintermediate set of doors and no communication exists to the atmospherethrough said external conduits.
 5. System as defined by claim 3 wherein(12) valve control means secures communication through said externalconduit means between said second area and the atmosphere upon theclosing of said intermediate set of doors and prior to the opening ofsaid lower set of doors and no communication exists to said first areathrough said external conduit means.
 6. A material collector systemadapted for the efficient removal of material from a material-airconveying system which comprises in combination: (1) an outer housinghaving (2) an inlet conduit near the top thereof for the admittance ofsaid material and air, (3) an outlet conduit in said outer housing forthe removal of air therefrom, (4) an inner perforated housing positionedwithin and near the top of said outer housing and in communication withsaid inlet conduit whereby conveying air will separate from saidmaterial and will flow through said perforations into passagewaysbetween the respective housings and be removed through said outletconduit, (5) an upper set of doors positioned within said innerperforated housing designed to prevent the passage of material thereby,when closed, said upper set of doors characterized by havingperforations therethrough, (6) an intermediate set of doors positionedbelow said inner perforated housing and designed to prevent anycommunication thereby, when closed, from a first area above saidintermediate doors to a second area below said intermediate doors, (7) alower set of doors positioned at the lower end of said outer housing anddesigned to prevent any communication thereby, when closed, from withoutsaid outer housing to within said outer housing, and (8) conventionaldoor control means for actuating said doors in an interrelated cyclicmanner, so that said intermediate set of doors and said lower set ofdoors are never open simultaneously, and said upper set of doors areclosed at least during the closing cycle of said intermediate set ofdoors.
 7. System as defined by claim 3 wherein said external conduitmeans And said external value means consists essentially of an externalhousing assembly having an upper area and a lower area, a first port insaid upper area communicating with said first area, a second port insaid lower area communicating with said second area, a third portproviding communication between said upper area and said lower area, afourth port providing communication between said lower area and theatmosphere, a movable valve adapted to close said third port or saidfourth port, whereby when said third port is closed no communicationexists between said first area and said second area but communicationexists between said second area and the atmosphere, and whereby whensaid fourth port is closed communication exists between said first areaand said second area but no communication exists to the atmosphere.